Former TD Ameritrade CEO Joe Moglia Makes The Playoffs In His First Year As A College Football Head Coach

Away from the glare of the BCS polls and ESPN cameras, one of the best stories in college football just got even better.

Joe Moglia, the former CEO of TD Ameritade, has made the FCS playoffs in his first year as a college head coach, at Coastal Carolina University. The Chanticleers (7-4) beat Charleston Southern 41-20 on Saturday. The Chants finished tied atop the Big South Conference, but prevailed in a tiebreaker. Coastal Carolina will travel to Daytona Beach, Florida, on Saturday to play Bethune Cookman (9-2), the 22nd-ranked team in the FCS standings. Moglia is also one of the nominees for the FCS coach of the year award, and was named Coach of the Year in the Big South Conference.

Becoming the head coach of a college football team represented the culmination of three decade-long dream for Moglia. The playoff berth makes it even sweeter.

My new book, 4th AND GOAL: One Man’s Quest to Recapture His Dream (Grand Central Publishing), is the story of Moglia’s quest to become a college football head coach. It’s a tale of overcoming doubters. Since the age of 19, Moglia—who grew up in a rough New York City neighborhood—wanted to become the head coach of a football program, a dream that helped save him from a wasted life. He worked his way up the coaching ladder. In 1983, at age 33, he was the defensive coordinator at Dartmouth and had been offered a job on the defensive staff of the Miami Hurricanes, which had just won the national championship. He had to decline that job and give up on his dream. He and his wife—whom he’d married at 19—got divorced. They had four children. His $33,000 coaching salary, he decided, wouldn’t be enough to provide for his family.

So he decided to go to Wall Street, with no experience and no training. He talked his way into Merrill Lynch. No one thought the football coach could hack it. But, within four years, he’d become the biggest salesman in the firm and helped change the way Wall Street did business.

In 2001 he left Merrill to take over the company then known as Ameritrade. At the time, the online brokerage looked like another casualty of the dotcom bust. As the CEO Moglia saved the company from that crisis, produced record revenues for seven straight years, then completely sidestepped the 2008 recession, posting an $800 million profit that year. Then, in 2009 and at the age of 59, Moglia walked away from what is now known as TD Ameritrade. Though he was at the top of the financial world, he decided he couldn’t let go of his original life dream to become the head coach of a college football team.

His quest took three years to fulfill. No one took him seriously. He’d been out of the game for nearly three decades. His success in business actually became a hindrance as college athletic directors thought he was merely a hobbyist. But, finally, he got a job last December, as the head coach of Coastal Carolina. The hire was derided at the time. There were charges that he bought the job. Fans thought he was too old. He took over for a very popular coach who had founded the program. He attention would be diverted because he was still the chairman of TD Ameritrade.

Moglia’s season started brightly. The Chanticleers won their first two games, including a thrilling three-overtime win over Furman. Then the season seemed to hit the skids. Coastal lost four games in a row, including a 55-14 shellacking at FCS powerhouse, Appalachian State. The doubts about Moglia seem justified. His unorthodox coaching style came under fire. He’d preached personal responsibility to his players. “Be a man,” he told them. He often drifted into business-speak, telling his players and coaches they had to “leverage their core competencies.” He featured a wide-open offensive attack that, if it stalled, left his already-thin defense very vulnerable. The doubters believed him in over his head, out of his league.

But the doubt was merely a familiar echo of what he’d heard all of his life.

At 2-4, with the season on the brink, Moglia turned it around. Coastal won the last five games of the season, beating its foes by an average of 30 points a game. His message began to sink in. The doubters retreated. And, somehow, Moglia and his team made the playoffs. The season, and his remarkable story, continues.

“We all like to dream big when it comes to pursuing our goals, but the truth is, the real world too often gets in the way. That’s why Joe Moglia’s story is so fulfilling. Joe dared to chase his dreams, and this wonderful book captures his story in a way that is both gripping and unforgettable.”—Jim Nantz, CBS Sports

“No one should ever be ashamed of letting practicality and responsibility take their dreams away. But what an inspiration Joe is to never let his dream die. After reading his story, I remind myself I still have my own unfulfilled dreams to pursue.”—Steve Young, NFL Hall of Famer

“For many of us, coaching football is more than a way of life. It’s a calling. Joe Moglia clearly understands this, and his story is both powerful and inspiring. If you’re a football fan, this is a book you must read.”—Bill Cowher, legendary coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers

“A winning story for fans of Friday Night Lights and believers in the American dream.”—Kirkus Reviews

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